Tafsir of Al-Jinn 72:19

"And that when he stood up" — the hamza is vocalized with fathah according to the majority, on the basis that it is a conjunction to "that he listened" (anna-hu istama‘a) like what preceded it; thus, it is part of His speech—Exalted is He—meaning: "It was revealed to me that the affair, when the servant of Allah—that is, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—stood up."

His saying, "calling upon Him" (yad‘uhu), is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for "servant"—that is, when he stood up as a worshiper of Him, the Mighty and Majestic. This refers to his standing (peace be upon him) for the dawn prayer at Nakhlah, as has been mentioned. "They were almost" (kadu)—the Jinn, as Ibn Abbas and al-Dahhak stated—"upon him in layers" (libada), piled up on top of one another due to their crowding around him, in amazement at what they witnessed of his worship and what they heard of his recitation, and the way his companions followed him in standing, bowing, and prostrating; for they had seen what they had never seen the like of, and heard what they had never heard the equivalent of. This is almost self-evident that they were numerous, not nine or thereabouts.

His (peace be upon him) being referred to by the term "the servant" (al-‘abd) rather than "the Prophet," "the Messenger," or a pronoun, is either because it is spoken on his own tongue—for he was commanded to say, "It was revealed to me thus," so it was brought forth as necessitated by the station of servitude and humility—or because Allah, the Exalted, avoided those [other terms] to alert one that worship from a servant is not to be viewed as strange. He (peace be upon him) conveyed the speech of his Lord, the Sublime, exactly as it was, elevating himself away from the intervening [distinction], for there is no existence of the shadow after the source. And since this avoidance [of titles] by Him, the Glorified, is for this reason or that, it is nevertheless an act of expression by the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) which is not prohibited, as some eminent scholars have said, [it is] the combining of the two excellences.

Al-Hasan and Qatadah said the pronoun in "they were almost" refers to the disbelievers of Quraysh and the Arabs. Thus, "the standing" means standing with the message, and "the layering" means enmity. The meaning is: when the servant of Allah stood up with the message, calling upon Allah alone and abandoning what they used to call upon besides Him, they—due to their banding together against him and cooperating in his enmity—almost crowded upon him, piled up. It is also permitted that the pronoun in this interpretation refers to both Jinn and mankind. It is also narrated from Qatadah regarding the implication of this: "Mankind and Jinn piled up against this matter to extinguish it, but Allah, the Exalted, refused except to grant victory to him over those who opposed him."

In al-Bahr, the one who said that "the servant of Allah" here refers to Noah (peace be upon him)—that his people almost killed him until Allah, the Exalted, saved him from them—is considered distant, as stated by al-Hasan. Further from it is the view of the one who said it refers to Abdullah ibn Salam. For my life, it is not appropriate to state that, and I do not think it has any validity in any respect.

Nafi‘, Abu Bakr (as we have previously stated), Ibn Hurmuz, and Talhah (as in al-Bahr) read it as anna-hu with the kasrah of the hamza. It is treated as an inaugural sentence from the speech of the Almighty. It is also permissible that it is from the speech of the Jinn, conjoined to the sentence, "We have heard," in which they judged for their people—when they returned to them—what they saw of his prayer (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the crowding of his companions upon him in following him. Ibn Jubayr narrated this as well. Something similar is permissible regarding the fathah reading based on what was heard from Abu Hatim, or by estimating "and we inform you that," or the like.

In al-Kashf, the view regarding the estimation that "and that the mosques" is part of what was revealed—and that "do not call upon" is an address to the Jinn, narrated—is that if His saying "And when he stood up" (on the kasrah reading) is made a statement of the Jinn, the structure would not fall apart if it were made the beginning of a story and a revelation separate from the account of the Jinn. Likewise, if the pronoun in "they were almost" is made to refer to the Jinn on the fathah reading as well. The basic meaning is: "The mosques belong to Allah, so do not call upon, O Jinn, anyone alongside Allah." Thus, it was said: "O Muhammad, to the polytheists of Mecca, it was revealed to me thus." When it is so, there comes within the account the establishing of this ruling with respect to the addressees as well, due to the unity of the cause.

As for if it were made a general address, the proper view is that the pronoun "they were almost" refers to the polytheists or to the Jinn and mankind; and that on the kasrah reading, it is an inaugural sentence, a beginning of a story from Him, the Glorified, informing [us] of the state of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). This is a preparation for what comes after and a confirmation of what was mentioned before. It is as if it were said: "Tell the polytheists of Mecca what has occurred in the account of the Jinn, and the belief of some of them and the disbelief of others, so that the recounting of that may be a kindness to them in desisting from what they were in, and an encouragement to believe." Then it was said: "And that when the servant of Allah stood up, calling upon Him and professing His oneness, the two groups—the disbelievers among Jinn and mankind—almost became layers upon him," a demonstration of their lack of being deterred despite these glaring proofs and shining signs.

How beautiful is the correspondence between His saying "And that the mosques" and this statement! It is as if they were all forbidden from polytheism and called to monotheism, so they responded to that with enmity toward the one who professes the oneness of Allah, the Glorified, and calls upon Him, and they were not content with mere refusal. This is one of the characteristics of the Noble Book and its marvelous style: when it takes up one story after another, it makes them equitable in what the speech was directed toward, and it adds to that the brotherhood between them in the harmony of the conclusion of the first and the opening of the second. Perhaps this view is highly plausible.

As for if it is interpreted according to what was narrated from al-Khalil—"And because the mosques belong to Allah, so do not call upon..."—the view is that it is a digression mentioned following the threat against those who turn away. Regarding the verses 21 and 22, this is more apparent on the seven limbs, for it contains a reminder that He, the Exalted, is the One who blessed them with them, and an alerting that the wisdom in their creation is the service of the Worshipped, from the perspective of the transition from the term "limbs" and their specific names to "mosques," and an indication that this contradicts polytheism. In that case, there remains no difficulty in the connection of what follows to what precedes it, according to both readings. And the most appropriate view, and Allah knows best. So contemplate.

Al-libad—with the kasrah of the lam and fathah of the ba—as the majority read, is the plural of libdah (with kasrah), like kisrah and kisra, and it is the groups, likened to something piled up, one part on top of another. It is said for locusts, and from this, as al-Jubba'i said, is the statement of Abd Manaf ibn Rib‘ al-Hudhali: "They lined up in six rows and four / as if upon them was a collector [standing] in layers (libadan)."

Mujahid, Ibn Muhaysin, and Ibn ‘Amir (with a variance from him) read lubadan with the dammah of the lam, the plural of libdah, like zubrah and zubur. From Ibn Muhaysin also, the silencing of the ba and the dammah of the lam. Al-Hasan, al-Jahdari, Abu Haywah, and a group from Abu ‘Amr read with two dammahs, the plural of lubad, like ruhn and ruhun, or the plural of lubud, like sabur and subur. Al-Hasan and al-Jahdari also read (with a variance from them) lubbada with the dammah of the lam and the shaddah of the ba, the plural of lubad. Abu Raja' read it with its kasrah and the shaddah of the open ba.